Back in Black
by Emmy131
Summary: We know how Bella reacted when Jacob showed up on his motorcycle in Eclipse. But what were Jacob, Alice, and Mike thinking? And what happens when Bella and Jacob hear a song that fits them perfectly on their way back to La Push? NOT JxB; Friendship only.
1. Jacob

Back in Black

Jacob

I stared unseeingly out the window, sitting in a seat that was made for a kid half my size and bored out of my mind. I hated this stupid pretense, going to school when I knew it was all for nothing. It wasn't like I had a choice about my future.

I snorted, considering the possibilities: 'Yes, I'd like to apply for a job here—oh, but I think I should let you know that I'm a werewolf, so any time a vampire shows up I'm kind of obligated to burst into a wolf and go tear it to shreds. So, when do I start?'

Embry gave me a sidelong glance from the desk next to mine, raising an eyebrow at my random snicker. I waved it off and went back to attempting to make myself fit into the tiny desk. Only about half my butt fit onto the stupid seat, and my legs were jammed up against the back of the chair in front of me, tilting it forward in a way that looked pretty darn uncomfortable for the poor guy sitting in it. The attached desk was pressing into my stomach so hard I had my doubts about whether or not I would need a chainsaw to get out of it.

I sighed loudly for about the hundredth time that day and resumed gazing out the window, my thoughts inevitably turning to the same thing I was always thinking about these days. I sighed again, this time loudly enough so that even the teacher, droning endlessly on about theorems or some other kind of crap that I would never again use, glanced sharply up from the textbook she had been quoting all class and glared at me.

"Mr. Black? Would you care to inform us why you felt the need to disturb the class?" Mrs. Leeman's dry, yawn-inducing voice cut through my thoughts, and I cocked an eyebrow at her.

She had caught me on the wrong day.

"Yes, I would," I told her, my voice clear and loud, rousing several students out of their stupor.

"_Jake_," Quil hissed, somehow managing to twist his thick leg around and kick the back of my seat. I ignored him, getting to my feet—and taking the desk with me. My classmates snickered as I braced my hands against the desk, shoving it down off my body.

"Excuse me, young man?" Mrs. Leeman, bristling furiously, stood also—though it hardly made a difference, as short as she was.

"Jake!" Embry barked, probably after noticing my trembling hands. I glanced sideways at Embry's wide, pleading eyes, then at Quil's narrowed eyes and ready-for-action expression, and my anger deflated. It just wasn't worth getting upset about.

I wedged myself back into my desk, exhaling slowly through my teeth. "Never mind," I muttered to Mrs. Leeman, who seemed to think that she had successfully scared me into submission. Yeah, right.

"Detention, Mr. Black," she trilled smugly, whipping out a yellow form, "for disturbing the class. Monday after school."

I just shook my head, glaring out the window and ignoring her completely as she made a show of presenting my detention slip to me.

After Trig, my second class of the day, I just couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey, Jake, where're we going?" Quil called out as he jogged up to me, slipping into the pack plural.

"We still have four hours left till school lets out—unless Sam called you down?" Embry glanced up at the speakers attached to the ceiling as if expecting Sam's voice to suddenly come booming out of them.

"Yeah, has he finally got a lead on the redheaded bloodsucker?" Quil asked eagerly, tripping over his own mammoth feet in his excitement.

"_We_ are not going anywhere," I interrupted them, irritated.

Embry stopped in his tracks, stung. Quil, not bothered in the least, kept walking with me, rolling his eyes and motioning to Embry to catch up to us. "Of course we are. Where you go, we go. And vice versa. We're brothers."

"Look," I growled, stopping so suddenly that Quil—who had been practically stepping on my heels in his eagerness—ran smack into me. I couldn't believe he was playing the brother card. _Again_ "This is just something I need to do, okay? Alone," I added quickly, flinging out my arms to keep them from walking any farther.

"Oh," Quil huffed suddenly, "this is about Bella, isn't it?"

Embry grinned and started in with the immature 'Ooooooooh' as I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, that's really old now. What is it, the three hundredth time?" I narrowed my eyes, glancing from Embry to Quil and back again.

"No, this obsession you've got it really old. She loves a leech!" Quil threw his hands into the air in his frustration.

"She doesn't love him," I muttered, shouldering my backpack and taking off again.

"Pack meeting at ten!" Quil called after me as I strode through the crowded hallway. I suppressed a smile as everyone within hearing range paused to throw Quil bizarre glances, wondering what in the name of all things furry he was talking about. Quil smirked happily at the attention, and Embry rolled his eyes, jerking Quil away from the confused crowd of students and heading toward their next class.

I strode forward down the hallway and into the parking lot, jumping onto my motorcycle and roaring off to find one of the only people who mattered to me.


	2. Alice

I forgot my disclaimer, but as we all know all characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, as well as some of the dialogue. I know it's short, but so was my review list. Which reminds me: thanks to EdwardObsession92, for being my sole reviewer! Don't forget: reviews make for a happy writer!

Back in Black

Pages 169-171

Alice

I stared over at Bella in the passenger seat, scrutinizing her frustrated expression, and sighed. Edward wasn't going to be very happy with me…Bella wasn't supposed to be upset. It had been inevitable that she would realize that she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, but nevertheless, it was my job to make sure she stayed just as happy as she had been when Edward left. That was, after all, the deal that had gotten me that beautiful yellow Porsche.

My fantasies of staying up late, painting each other's nails, and dressing Bella up had dissolved into nothing, replaced by Rosalie telling Bella horror stories (and not even the fun kind!) and Bella stubbornly crashing on the couch instead of the beautiful bed that I had helped Edward pick out.

"Tonight we'll go out to Olympia or something," I persisted in my attempts at salvaging the situation for the better. "That would be fun, right?" I added, picturing Bella surrounded by mirrors, twirling around in a beautiful red dress.

"Why don't you just lock me in the basement and forget the sugar coating?" Bella muttered, glaring out the window.

I sighed, the wonderful image of shopping with Bella abruptly disappearing. "He's going to take the Porsche back. I'm not doing a very good job," I admitted. "You're supposed to be having fun."

Bella shrugged it off, but I couldn't let it go. Why was I so bad at this? Was it because I couldn't remember being a human, or because I simply had a different idea of fun than Bella did?

I hummed thoughtfully as I drove, glancing occasionally at Bella, who was still staring sulkily out the window. I tried to think of what I would want to do if I were a human kidnapped by her overprotective boyfriend's sister.

Hmmm…

…Well…

…Let's see…

…Still thinking…

I drew a blank. 'Maybe it _would _be a bit easier if I actually remember being human,' I admitted to myself. 'As it is…the only thing I can think of is shopping. Isn't that a normal human activity?' I bit my lip, considering this.

"Are you going to unlock the door, or do I need a bodyguard to go to school, too?" Bella's irritated voice sliced through my musings. I quickly unlocked her door, still on autopilot as I climbed out of the car and followed Bella into the school.

I couldn't stop turning one question over and over in my mind… 'With Edward gone, what would make Bella happy?'


	3. Mike

I love playing with Mike because in my mind he's so good at convincing himself that he has a chance with Bella; unfortunately I seem to become more and more boring as each of my stories progress. Like with Field of Screams; the ending sucked. So...sorry? But reviews make me happy!

Alice (again) is next; then I'll finally get to my original idea!

Back in Black

Mike

I watched as Bella trudged wearily to her first class, trailed by the oddly beautiful Alice Cullen, and found myself once again wondering why the Cullens had taken Isabella Swan in as one of their own when they hadn't bothered to so much as glance at any of the rest of us before.

The question flitted from my mind as soon as I realized that there was one very important element missing—Edward Cullen was gone! I glanced around, perplexed—it wasn't sunny; why wasn't he here?—but I didn't really care about the answer when the result was a boyfriend-less Bella Swan.

I spent the whole first period unable to sit still, counting down the minutes—the seconds—until the bell rang for second period. I hadn't been able to intercept Bella on her way to first period like I usually did because Jessica had latched on to me, screeching something about shoes as I attempted to shake her off. But there was no way I was going to miss out on talking to Bella when perfect Cullen wasn't around—it would be my chance to find the crack in their _seemingly_ flawless relationship and work my way into it.

My plan was to catch up with her before second period, but the clock wouldn't cooperate; I swear it was moving even more slowly than usual. At one point, at about five minutes to the bell, I was positive it actually stopped. Finally the bell gave in and released me from the torture that was Chemistry class and I sprinted off to find my future girlfriend.

After running what seemed like a marathon through the crowded hallways I slid the last few feet down the hallway and yanked the door open just as Bella reached it.

I braced my hand against the door to make my muscles stand out—a trick that I had learned from, uh, GQ—and held my breath so she wouldn't hear my panting, but Bella didn't even look at me as she passed. I dropped my hand and let out my breath in a whoosh of disappointment. This hard-to-get, jealousy thing she was obviously doing was getting really old.

I scanned the hall for the disgustingly perfect face of Cullen—that guy couldn't hide in a crowd if his life depended on it—but saw only the plain faces of my classmates. I turned back to Bella and asked about him as casually as possible just to make sure. Bella muttered a one word answer; she _still_ hadn't looked at me. She didn't even seem to notice my new Tag cologne!

Frowning, I fell into step beside her and stared down at her dark hair. Her face was bent so that she was staring at the ground, clutching her numerous books and binders. What if she was just being shy? What if she was scared to break up with Edward, because she wasn't sure of my feelings toward her?

I made a couple faces, wondering what Bella would do if she happened to glance up and catch me right in the middle of some bizarre facial expression. Then I drew in a deep breath, preparing myself. 'Now or never,' I decided. It wasn't like I was going to get a shot with her when that jerk Cullen was around.

I struggled to recall the tips I had gotten from my quick, surreptitious reading of GQ. Okay, let's think…not too hopeful, be suave and dazzle her with your smile…light touch of the shoulder to make her swoon…be casual but irresistible…

"You want to do something tonight?"

Perfect! No way she's turning down this sexy face and stunning smile. She looked up at me disbelievingly. Maybe she's finally realizing that I like her—now she can finally get rid of Cullen and we can ride off into the sunset and Tyler and Eric and Edward—_especially_ Edward—will be so incredibly jealous…

"Can't."

I instantly deflated. Again? Man, what was it going to take to pry her away from the maniacal grip of Cullen? The Jaws of Life?

"I've got a slumber party," she added, seeming truly repelled by the thought.

What a weird way to respond to a sleepover. I mean, sure, she was different, blah blah blah, but Jessica and Laura were always shrieking over them so excitedly. Maybe that's why she was so disgusted by the sleepover: Laura and Jessica were going to be there. They disgusted everyone else daily, after all.

Then it dawned on me: she was disappointed because she couldn't go out with me tonight! I knew it all along.

I wondered if there was any way I could convince whoever was hosting this sleepover to let Bella come with me instead, as she obviously wanted to.

But what if the sleepover was really with Alice Cullen? I had seen them walking into school together this morning. Alice wouldn't let Bella come with me—she would be too worried that I would steal her away from her precious brother. Which I would!

Maybe I could sneak over there and throw pebbles at Bella's window until she woke up and then she would run downstairs as fast as she could and fling herself into my arms and declare her love for me and we would finally be together…

I decided to ask who exactly this slumber party was with before I completely planned out my heroic, romantic plans for the night. But before I could finish my question, the snarl of a motorcycle on the street caught Bella's attention. I scowled, glancing over to see who had interrupted my heartfelt discussion with my future girlfriend.

If seeing Edward Cullen in his stupid shiny Volvo would have been a hundred on the Oh-this-totally-sucks scale, seeing Jacob Black on his flashy black Harley was at least a ninety.

'Maybe more,' I decided irately as I watched Bella's face light up in delight. The jerk was motioning and calling to her. Bella looked back up at me, and for a moment my heart swelled.

'Finally,' I thought. 'She's finally choosing me over everyone else.'

But then she crushed my hopes with one sentence.

"I got really sick and went home, okay?" Her eyes pleaded with me, her body tensed and ready to run.

To someone else.

'She's going to go anyway,' I realized. 'Might as well score some points.'

"Fine."

Then she reached up to kiss me on the cheek, and it was worth it. She was so into me; it was obvious by the way her hands lingered on my shoulders just a split-second too long. So what if her eyes were on Black the whole time? I was the one she kissed.

I watched as she dashed to Black's stupid, attention-demanding motorcycle and scowled sullenly as she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his back. The Harley roared off, my dream girl on it with another guy.

'I owe you one,' she'd said as she sprinted away. I was going to hold her to that.


	4. Alice's Options

Back in Black

Alice

I sighed as I left the cafeteria. Mind-numbing boredom still clung to me, no doubt brought on by doing nothing for the past hour but staring at food I couldn't even eat.

I was still dwelling on Bella's misery. The whole human happiness thing was turning out to be much more difficult than I had imagined. Were all humans this way?

Bella had already shot down the whole shopping idea…Maybe we could…go to the movies?

No, not nearly good enough. All right, how about…a night club?!

No, she would never agree without Edward here to dazzle her into it. What an odd person Bella is, to fear normal things like dancing, but embrace supernatural vampires who could suck her dry within a couple seconds.

Okay, how about…deep tissue massages? Or wait, an amusement park! Or we could… well…we could always—no…

I simply couldn't think of anything that might lift Bella out of the gloom Edward's absence had created. I kept coming back to the same question: With Edward gone, what would make Bella happy?

Just then I heard a vaguely familiar roar from the student parking lot. My head snapped up, but I couldn't see the source of the sound. My eyes slid out of focus as I searched the future, seeking answers. But there was a problem with that…there were no answers.

I couldn't see anything.

I jerked myself back to the present just in time to catch sight of Bella, her arms wrapped around the waist of that infernal _mutt_, ready to take off and leave me and my desperate plans behind.

My mind raced at warp speed as I considered my options:

Option 1: I could race at the speed of sound to the motorcycle and leap at Bella to keep her from leaving. I would risk breaking Bella's neck…which would also risk dooming my brother (and therefore the rest of us) to misery for all eternity. There would also be the little tiny risk of revealing the secret of vampires to the student body of Forks High…which would lead to the rest of the population of Forks finding out…which would most likely result in the entire world discovering the presence of mythical creatures.

Okay, so that option's out.

Option 2: I could race at superspeed to the motorcycle, leap at Jacob, and purposefully snap his neck. Same risk of revealing my secret…but now accompanied by the satisfaction of finally murdering that accursed dog. There would be an unfortunate added risk of Bella never allowing me to use her as a Barbie doll ever again, but I'm sure she'll get over her loss eventually.

Still that darn secret thing though…

I'll keep that option in mind.

Option 3: I could watch the mutt speed off with Bella. This would possibly—all right, probably—allow Bella to be happy without Edward for a few hours. Then, of course, I would have to face the imminent Wrath of Edward as soon as he returns. There's no doubt that my lovely Porsche would be taken away.

Oh yes, I could see the outcome of that last option. Edward would race home furiously… he would follow Bella as she left the reservation…

I sighed once again as Bella threw me a beseeching puppy-dog face. Despite what I wanted to believe, I didn't actually have any options. All I could do was stand there and let Jacob Black ride off with my brother's soulmate.

'But that doesn't mean I have to like it,' I thought, my lips curling back into a silent snarl, hoping the dog would see me and realize who—or rather, what—he was messing with.

The two sped off and I turned away, silently bidding my beloved Porsche farewell.


	5. Back in Black

Back in Black

Bella Swan

I threw my head back in pure joy, reveling in my newfound freedom. A lingering raindrop, left over from the last storm, hit me full in the face, and I quickly returned to the safety of Jacob's shoulder.

Jacob, meanwhile, was whooping ecstatically, bent low over the Harley's handlebars. "I can't believe we made it!" He cried, his triumphant words whipped back to me by the wind. "That was awesome!"

We laughed and cheered as we raced toward the border of La Push, and though I was anxious about making it there before the Cullens showed up (not to mention guilty because I knew I shouldn't be doing this in the first place), I was also filled with incredible happiness to be back with my best friend.

When we made it over the border Jacob slowed, and we reiterated our triumphant cheers, completely and utterly proud of ourselves.

Just then a blue, beat-up truck pulled up beside us, keeping pace with our leisurely 40 mph. The truck pulsated with music, the strains of the bass practically vibrating the motorcycle as we rode. Jacob, like me, was frowning in annoyance—I could see it even from behind him.

"Speed up," I shouted to be heard over the rumbling beat. Whoever was driving that thing was irritating beyond belief.

Jacob nodded in assent and sped to 60 mph. The truck, oddly enough, sped up as well (though its engine roared in protest) and continued to keep pace with us.

My brows drew together as Jacob let out a sudden bark of laughter, inexplicably amused. "Slow down!" I told him, determined to escape the infuriating blue truck.

"Whatever you say," Jacob called back, grinning widely. He obliged—but still the truck

was beside us, the last strains of the song rumbling through the air. Jacob's laughter was even more enthused this time.

"What—?" my brow wrinkled in confusion.

The grimy passenger side window, right above us, lowered slowly, and I finally realized who was the source of my annoyance: Embry and Quil.

"This one's for you, Black!" Quil called from the driver's seat, grinning devilishly, and pressed a button on the ancient stereo, cranking the volume up even higher as a new song came on.

Back in black, I hit the sack,  
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back  
Yes I'm let loose from the noose,  
That's kept me hangin' about  
I been livin' like a star 'cause it's gettin' me high,  
Forget the hearse, 'cause I never die  
I got nine lives, cat's eyes  
abusing every one of them and running wild

I swelled with happiness as Jacob and I laughed at the perfection of the song. Surely Edward would understand that I needed my best friend. The joy of this moment alone would compensate for anything I had to face when I got home.

'Cause I'm back! Yes, I'm back!  
Well, I'm back! Yes, I'm back!  
Well, I'm baaack, baaack...  
Well, I'm back in black,  
Yes, I'm back in black!

We sang along with the chorus—well, yelled along, really—and I waved my arms about wildly, almost forgetting that I was on a racing motorcycle. Jacob's broad shoulders, clad in a black t-shirt, shook with laughter, shaking the black motorcycle we rode.

Back in a band, I got Cadillac,  
Number one with a bullet, I'm a power pack  
Yes I'm in a band with a gang,  
they gotta catch me if they want me to hang  
'Cause I'm back on the track and I'm beatin' the flack,  
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap  
So look at me now, I'm just a makin' my pay,  
Don't try to push your luck, just get outta my way

The wind whipped through my hair and whooshed down my throat as I shouted the words, my heart swollen to bursting point with joy. This friendship couldn't be replaced by anything. Jacob was my best friend and my sun; as of today I was officially Back in Black.

Well, I'm back! Yes, I'm back!  
Well, I'm back! Yes, I'm back!  
Well, I'm baaack, baaack...  
Well, I'm back in black,  
Yes, I'm back in black—Ow!


End file.
